Data Protection

The digital age of consent, one year on

This Saturday, 25 May, will be the one year anniversary of Europe’s General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) coming into force. Alex Cooney, CEO of CyberSafeIreland, a non-profit working to empower children, parents and teachers to navigate the online world in a safe and responsible manner, discusses the impact of the regulation on children in Ireland, particularly the GDPR’s requirement […]

Where does your data go? Developing a research methodology for children’s online privacy

With growing concerns over children’s online privacy and the commercial uses of their data, it is vital that children’s understandings of the digital environment, their digital skills and their capacity to consent are taken into account in designing services, regulation and policy. Mariya Stoilova, Rishita Nandagiri and Sonia Livingstone’s research project Children’s Data and Privacy Online set out to ask children […]

Gearing up for the next European elections: will we see regulation of online political advertising?

The next European Parliament elections are due to be held in late May 2019. Among fears of a populist wave and of foreign interference, the European Commission has been looking at potential options for regulation of online political advertising and disinformation. Sofia Karttunen, European Affairs Officer at the European Association of Communication Agencies, looks here at different ways to […]

Could ‘hide by default’ be a solution to online privacy concerns for children?

The Information Commissioner’s Office’s consultation on an age appropriate design code for information society services, (a requirement of the Data Protection Act 2018 which supports and supplements the implementation of the GDPR) is open for submissions until September 19. The code will provide guidance on the design standards that the Information Commissioner will expect providers of online services, which process personal data and are […]

Conceptualising privacy online: what do, and what should, children understand?

Post-Cambridge-Analytica, and post-GDPR, children are becoming increasingly aware of how their data is being used online but there are still limits to their digital literacy. In this post, Sonia Livingstone, Mariya Stoilova and Rishita Nandagiri discuss how they are conceptualising issues of privacy and personal data in their latest ICO-funded research into children’s understanding of privacy and data use […]

The European Parliament’s Hearing on Cambridge Analytica and Facebook #2: Rumble in the (Regulatory) Jungle

In the second of three blogs for the Media Policy Project, Brussels-based policy analyst Pascal Crowe reports from the European Parliament on the first of three scheduled hearings about the Facebook/Cambridge Analytica case.

The European Parliament’s second of three scheduled hearings about the Facebook/ Cambridge Analytica case got off to an inauspicious start. The draft agenda had promised political heavyweights such as Margrethe […]

In the furore over adults’ data being exploited by social media companies, who looks out for the kids? New survey shows parents want more protection for their teens

The forthcoming General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) comes into force next month, and proposes that companies should gain parental consent before processing the personal data of children under a certain age. But what do parents think that age should be? In this blogpost, LSE’s Sonia Livingstone and Kjartan Ólafsson of the University of Akureyri present the findings from a new UK study of parents […]

More clarity brings more confusion: debating what the European General Data Protection Regulation means for children in the UK

Professor Sonia Livingstone and LSE MSc Media Communications Governance student DaYoung Yoo reflect on the discussions surrounding the forthcoming General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) and what it will mean for children.

For some policy areas, it seems that the closer you look, the more confusion results. So it seems with the General Data Protection Regulation, coming into force in May […]

Will online platforms be able to access your bank data?

In this digital age, a substantial number of our personal financial transactions are conducted via the internet. Facebook is one example of a major platform that is exploring ways to integrate financial services into its portfolio, but what does this mean for data security and consumer rights? In this blog post, Jamie Thunder – senior policy adviser for the […]

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